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` UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

WVM. E. WTORTHEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LOCK.

Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 27,854, dated April 10, 1860.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, XVM. E. VVORTHEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Lock-Nosing to be Applied to Doors, and especially useful when there is occasion for the unlocking of many doors at the same time, as in prisons, houses of correction, or similar establishments, and that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings, is a full, clear, and sufficient description thereof.

In the drawings, Figure l, is an isometrical view of the whole co-ntrivance as applied to a door in readiness for use except that the outer case of the nosing and the locking slide are represented as opened so as to show the interior construction clearly. Fig. 2, is a plan of the revolving tumblerl or keeper a.; Fig. 3, an elevation of the same on the bolt side; Fig. 4, an elevation of the same on the locking slide side.

The idea of applying some sort of an apparatus to a number of doors so contrived and connected that the movement of a single rod or lever shall lock or unlock the whole at once or perform only the latter duty, is an old one, and may be found described in various books and in use in various places. The contrivance herein described is believed to be more effective and reliable than any of them and at the same time simple and not easily derangeable even by hard usage.

Each of the doors to which the apparatus is to be applied is to be furnished with al bolt such as o, and this bolt may be either a sliding or a stationary one, and if the former, it may be the bolt of a lock having a case and tumbler and operated by a key, or a mere open bolt like the one shown in the drawings. This bolt when shot should project from the edge of the door, and when the door is shut it enters into a notch o formed in the revolving tumbler or keeper a. The revolving tumbler is so fitted on a pin or journal that it can turn freely as far as required and in addition to the notch at o, is provided with another notch on the opposite side as shown at e. In the best form of the apparatus the tumbler is free to rise and fall and has two other notches on its lower corner as shown at z, L, these notches have one straight and one slanting side as shown in the drawings, and engage alternately with a stationary stud g.

Fig. 2, represents in red lines the position of the revolving tumbler when the door is open. If now the door be shut the bolt b, describes the path shown in dotted line, strikes upon the face of the notch c and causes the tumbler to revolve, so that when the door is shut it occupies the position shown in black line in the same drawings.

ln order to preventany person from opening the door, from the inside all that is necessary is to prevent the tumbler from turning. In order to do this there is fitted a wedge shaped slide f, which is pressed down or drops down between the notch c `on the tumbler and the inclined plane l on the face plate. The two positions of this slide f are shown in Fig. 4, in which f in full red line represents the slide in position to prevent the tumbler from turning and f in dotted line the position of the slide when the tumbler is free to revolve.

As the tumbler revolves it is lifted, owing to the action of the stud g, on the slanting side of the notches L, h and then falls again until the stud is fairly entered into the op posite notch, the use of the notches being to prevent the tumbler from revolving too far, and the slanting sides being of such an inclination that the tumbler can only be maintained at its eXtreme positions.

In actual use I intend to attach to each locking slide a wire or rod which is tov be connected by bell crank or otherwise with a. long rod extending over a whole range of doors, the arrangement being such that any slide may fall when the notch e is revolved beneath it and that each locking slide in the whole range may be lifted by pulling on the long rod.

As the prisoners return to their cells all that is required of the officer or turnkey is to see that each prisoner shuts his door as he enters. lVhen shut the locking slide will enter the notch in the tumbler so that the latter cannot be turned. And when it is necessary to let all out it is only needful to operate the long lever so as to lift the locking slides and thus permit the tumblers to turn as each prisoner opens his door. The lock* ing slide is wedge shaped so that it will commence to enter before the door is fairly closed, and will prevent the tumbler from revolving if by design any person should fail to shut his door close to.

lVhen the doors are open each slide may rest upon the top fof the revolving keeper lli) or tumbler. The slide and its abutments on the tumbler and casing are made inclined for another and distinct purpose also. The inclination of the surfaces are made but little within the limiting angle of resistance of the material of which they are composed, so that a forcible pressure from the inside of the cell as might happen from design or from panic against the door would not prevent the slide from being raised and freeing the tumbler as would be the case were the pressure considerable and the slide and its abutments square.

If the bolt on the door be sliding ones or lock bolts, each door separately may be opened from the outside as any ordinary door is, by drawing the bolt, and the tumbler will then act as an ordinary stationary nosing.

this 7th day of March A. D. 1860.

lV. E.,WORTHEN.

In presence of- ELIJAH P. LEONARD, J J. ALTHANN.

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